lover and hater

Maui Honeymoon Classic

I haven’t been to Hawaii since 2001. I was fourteen, and my grandparents were about to move back to the mainland after living on Maui my entire life. Between my grandpa’s retirement and my grandma’s health issues, they wanted to be near family. But the years they lived there made our family vacations unbelievably picturesque.

(Awkward 14 year old me standing in the old banyan tree in the middle of Lahaina)

I have no memory of how many times I’ve been to Maui. The first time I went, I was just a little peanut in my mother’s stomach. The trip when I was fourteen years old was the same trip that all of the cousins got around that age – a month in Maui to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa, without their parents. I was their last grandchild, appropriate for their last summer in Kihei.

And now, we are going for our honeymoon. I had lots of ideas for getaways for our honeymoon, but Maui warmed my heart at its mention. I never thought I’d get back and now I’m dreaming of the moment when you step off the airplane and all you smell is gardenia. The strip malls mixed in with palm trees and tan people with no stress whatsoever. The bad drivers, the wonderful fruit and fish, the way the breeze is warm and yet you never sweat under the sun. It’s going to be perfect.

(Grandpa Mickey and I, on their lanai behind the house. You can see the ocean – when I was fourteen, there was only a sliver of blue left in view, obstructed by condos and new homes. Sad, but look how cute we are!!!)

Bryan and I are unbelievably blessed and I can’t wait to experience it all with him again. Okay, now I’m going to zip my lips about it until January to avoid going crazy with excitement.